'Aquaculture' phenomenon emerging

UK - A new agricultural revolution "of global importance to humankind" is emerging based on aquatic animal and plant life, experts have said.

Domestication of marine species is now racing ahead at 3.3% a year - far faster than the rate for land animals at any time in human history, they claim.

A report in the Journal Science said "aquaculture" was a new phenomenon that had only started to have an impact in the 20th century.

Of all the aquatic animals and plants now farmed, 97% had only been domesticated since the early 20th century - a total of 430 species. More than 100 of those species were domesticated in the last 10 years.

In future, aquatic agriculture was likely to transform food production, said the scientists led by Dr Carlos Duarte, from Instituto Mediterraneo de Estudios Avanzados in Mallorca, Spain.

They wrote: "Aquaculture is emerging as a revolution in agriculture of global importance to humankind."